disentangle
/dɪsɪnˈtaŋɡ(ə)l
/ /dɪsɛnˈtaŋɡ(ə)l/verb [with object]
1Free (something or someone) from something that they are entangled with: ‘I must go,’ she said, disentangling her fingers from Gabriel’s figurative it was difficult to disentangle fact from fiction...
- After disentangling it from around his front sprocket he fought back over the day's remaining test to claim victory.
- ‘The members are greatly helped by the formation of this group as we get a steady income now,’ she says as she triumphantly disentangles the weed from the nets.
- As she rises from a low chair at which she has been playing the clavichord, she disentangles the folds in the capacious dress which emphasises her tiny form.
Synonyms
extricate, extract, free, remove, disengage, untwine, disentwine, release, liberate, loosen, unloose, detach, unfasten, unclasp, disconnect
1.1Remove knots or tangles from (wool, rope, or hair): Allen was on his knees disentangling a coil of rope...
- Ava asked, gently disentangling her untamed red hair.
- She giggled and blushed, becoming less frightened and more excited as their hands moved from disentangling her hair to caressing her sensitive skin with their hands.
- Kara reached for the brush and started disentangling her hair, thinking about it.
Synonyms
untangle, unravel, remove the knots from, unknot, unsnarl, untwist, unwind, undo, untie, straighten out, smooth out;
comb;
card
Derivatives
disentanglement
/ noun ...- That's roughly a year's cash flow, so the disentanglement might have some effect on the career prospects of those who put it together five years ago.
- Furthermore, studies using dominant genetic markers do not properly allow for the disentanglement between genetic variation within loci and within genotypes.
- The disentanglement of age and size provides a novel context in which to evaluate this hypothesis.